The New Girl
by LilyLiteShipsHard
Summary: Tessa Gray moves to London as she has gotten into the Institute, a prestigious school that could get her stories known. But when she meets the vicious girls and the smart-mouth boys who all want her to stay away from the popular kids, why does she feel such an attraction to them?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Institute**

"Hurry up, Tessa! I need to drop you to school!" shouted Elizabeth Gray up the stairs.

"Coming, mom!"

Tessa looked at herself in the mirror. It was her first day at the Institute, the most prestigious and known school in London... in fact, possibly the world. Only a select few gained admission, and when Tessa received the acceptance letter, her parents had decided to move from New York to London just so that Tessa could be in the best school.

Her uniform consisted of a skirt that reached mid-thigh, and was red and black plaited. Her dress shirt had been ironed by her mother several times, and was practically see-through. A black blazer was buttoned down Tessa's front, but it didn't hide all of the shirt, so Tessa was felling like a- no, she shouldn't think that word. The fact that her socks were knee-high and sheer didn't help either. Tessa took comfort in knowing her black and red striped tie was hiding most of the exposed shirt.

Tessa took a deep breath, and headed down the stairs. Her mother was beaming at her.

"Let's go," jumped Elizabeth.

"Um, mom… can I walk? I just want to get acquainted with the route…"

Her mother's face fell, but only slightly. "Well, that's alright with me!"

Tessa left the house.

A bunch of chatter fell upon Tessa as she entered the school grounds.

"Oh my GOD! Did you see Gabriel's new haircut?"

"Was William not wearing his tie? Should I not wear my tie?"

"James looks so cute in his shirt!"

"Gideon says he's in love with a brunette. Could it be me?" 

Tessa sighed inwardly. She was getting the sense that a system was in place here. First the nerds and the bookworms (aka herself), then the 'okay' people, then the dip-dyed girls with two pounds of make up on that worshipped the final class, the populars.

She looked around, hoping to find some kind of sign, or map, leading her to the administration office, but her search was fruitless… there was nothing indicating any direction.

"Are you new here?" came a voice behind her. "You seem slightly lost."

Tessa turned around and saw a boy with silver hair falling in his face. From under it, a pair of silver eyes gazed at her. He was very pale, with long eyelashes, and prominent cheekbones. A black bag pack was slung over his shoulder, and he seemed to be holding a violin case.

"Er, yes, could you tell me where the administration office is?"

The boy smiled. "Take a left turn down the corridor, then another left and you should be standing right in front of it!"

"Oh, thank you!"

He extended his hand. "I'm James, by the way. James Carstairs, but everybody calls me Jem."

Tessa shook his hands and then noticed something. Every girl, literally every girl was looking at her, their faces scowling with disapproval.

"She's not even as pretty as me."

"James doesn't even like brunettes."

"She's new and she's talking to _him_!"

"What the hell is her name?"

Tessa flashed one last grateful look at Jem, and sprinted down the corridor.

Tessa had never felt so happy but nervous in her life.

The school focused on Tessa's strengths, which was literacy. There were two classes you could sign up for, creative writing, or study of literature. Tessa had signed up for both. It was mandatory to take all three sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry) and mathematics, along with two of the arts, but Tessa really didn't mind… she'd be doing what she loved best twice a day, three hours in total!

She was in such a daze that she didn't see him coming until a second before impact.

_BOOM!_

Next thing she knew, she was on the floor, clutching her forehead. Then she looked up and thought _we have a problem. _For in front of her was the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. He was tall, taller than her, which was something, and he had black hair, darker than the night, and dark blue eyes, that were unlike anything she had ever seen before. He had long lashes, high cheekbones, and a perfectly curved mouth. Then the mouth opened and he ruined it all.

"Watch where you're going, would you?"

One thing Tessa was very capable of was being snappish. "Yes, but what about you? It's perfectly okay for you to barrel down the corridor like a loose cannon? And I'M the one who has to watch where I'm going?"

He looked her up and down. "I'm William Herondale."

"I'm sorry, I fail to see your point."

"It means I can bloody do what I want!"

Tessa got up and looked at him coldly, then simply stomped past.

Behind her she heard "She put you in your place. How does it feel NOT to be worshipped?"

"Shut up, Gabriel."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Jessamine**

Tessa was in the ladies' bathroom, her face flushed. _Who was that girl who had just stood up to William Herondale?_ It wasn't her. She felt like curling into a ball and dying. He'd give her hell, everybody would give her hell, the make up hounds, for not worshipping their angel (though Tessa would have to admit, he looked like he'd just fallen from heaven), the 'populars' for dissing one of their friends, and the unpopular people would look at her like someone to idolize, like a martyr. The sad part was, martyrs always suffered and once they were gone, people started talking about how 'beautiful' it was to suffer, but you didn't see them taking any action, did you?

Tessa had just regained her composure, when the door opened and a short, blonde girl entered. She would have been pretty, all of Tessa's classics described girls like her as English roses, if not for the scowl on her face.

"That bastard!" she screeched, but then taking notice of Tessa, calmed down and said, "Hello."

"Um, hi?" Tessa replied, but it sounded more like a question. "Er, are you okay?"

"William Herondale is an asshole. He's hot, but he's an asshole." she said, like being hot forgave William for all his misdemeanors. But in the blonde's book of logic, it probably did, thought Tessa.

Tessa tried pulling a smile and attempted to mimic the girl's form of speech. She needed some kind of friend on her side, and they both already had one thing in common: Will was an idiot!

"Hi! I'm Tessa, what's up?"

The girl seemed to warm to Tessa. "Hey! I'm Jessamine, but you can totally call me Jessie, or Jesse, or whatever. 'Cuz, like, nicknames are awesome. Is Tessa a nickname?

"Yeah. Short for Theresa."

"Oh my god, I LOVE the name Theresa. Tell you what? My parents are out of town, and I'm _totally _hosting a party tonight, and I'd love for you to come." Then her face turned serious. "But like, promise me you'll be cool, and not get too drunk and puke all over the furniture, 'cuz I wanna be your friend, but I'm a cheerleader, and only super cool people can be my friend. That's okay, right? Like, because in my last party, most people got so drunk they ended up sleeping with each other at my house and my parents got back and (sniff) my phone was confiscated for a day!"

Tessa almost laughed. The tragedies of being a cheerleader. "Um, sure I'll come! And, like, what's your house address?"

The girl smiled. It was a plastic smile, like she'd been trained to do it. "I'm on Sunset Boulevard, the suburb. My house will be the only one with fairy lights on the trees."

Sunset Boulevard. It was a two-minute walk from her house.

Tessa smiled, trying to copy the artificialness in Jessamine's. "I'll see you there!"

"Mom? Hey, mom?" Tessa shouted the second she entered the house. "Can I go out tonight?"

"Hmm? Yeah, sure honey…" Tessa's mother was talking on the phone. "Yes, Lauren, bye! Now, what were you saying, honey?"

Tessa groaned inwardly at her mom's inattentiveness. "I was asking if I could go out tonight…"

Her mother _was _inattentive, but there were some key words a mother's instinct was trained to pick out, and the words _out _and _tonight _seemed to have gotten her attention.

"With who?" she asked suspiciously.

"My friend at school is hosting a party," Tessa said airily.

That seemed to mollify Elizabeth. Nothing like the thought of her daughter making friends on her first day at school sounded better to her.

"Of course you can go, and honey?" Elizabeth winked. "Forget about curfew."

Tessa grinned. Her mom could be the coolest.

Tessa rounded the curb. Her heels were digging into her ankles already, and her fishnets were slightly creased. She was wearing a dark blue dress coming up to her mid-thigh, which was high by her standards, but at the party would probably be considered as covering compared to other people's outfits. Three houses down was a house that could only be described as a fairy light explosion. They were everywhere, draped on trees, on the roof, on the grass, even on the necks of some people milling in the front yard. Tessa would be surprised to hear that her friends in New York hadn't seen the light explosion, as Vegas would be considered dim compared to this.

Tessa pushed the gate and entered. Some people were sitting in the yard, watching the sunset, others were _making out_ 'watching' the sunset, some people were talking with red, plastic cups in their hands, and some people were, uh, 'dancing' was putting it lightly inside. All this crossed Tessa's mind as she looked upon the scene. This was exactly as she'd imagined it.

Realizing she was thirsty, she walked past all the people outside, and pushed open the main door. A blast of cold, air-conditioned air teased her hair lightly as she entered. She walked past the dancers, towards the open-air kitchen, and saw a jug full of lemonade and empty red glasses.

She poured herself a generous portion and had raised the glass up to her lips when she heard a voice.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you. Jessamine spiked it."

She turned. And there he was, William Herondale. Her heart did a little tap dance in her chest as she noticed how hot he looked in a white shirt and blue jeans.

He took the cup from her, and their fingers brushed. His hand was warm. She looked up to see him drink all the contents of the cup.

"I thought you said it was spi-"

"I said 'I wouldn't drink it if I were you.' You don't look like someone who could have more than one shot and not throw up."

Tessa sniffed.

"Uh, hey, listen… I was thinking about what happened this morning, and, um, I believe I owe you an apology."

Tessa could not believe her ears. This was too good to be true. There had got to be some catch.

"So, uh, _goddamnit I'm bad at this, _um, I'm sorry."

Tessa smiled. "Apology accepted." Then she poured herself another glass.

_Two hours later…_

William looked at her. They had talked, drank, talked and drank. Tessa was on her eleventh, or was it twelfth, glass, and William had drunk twice that much. They were out on the lawn, and even though people surrounded them, she felt like she was only out here with him.

"So…" he slurred.

"So…" Tessa giggled back. And before she knew it, he was kissing her.

It was incredible. His hands wrapped around her waist, and she made her limp arms encircle his head. He tasted of lemon and alcohol. Time itself seemed to stand still. His tongue and teeth clashed with her own, and the kiss went from gentle to wild and passionate.

She didn't hear a small click.

"Ahem…"

They jumped apart. Jessamine was standing there. She winked at Tessa and said, "Will, I need to show you something."

Will smiled at her. "I'll be right back."

And he walked away. To stop herself from thinking about what just happened (not that she was in any state to think), she struck up a conversation with the nearest person next to her.

An hour had passed. Tessa wanted, no, needed Will to be here. She had so much to say. She glared at her watch.

"Shtop telling me de shtupid time," she muttered, and set off to search for Will.

He wasn't in the living area.

Or the kitchen.

Or the dining hall.

Tessa mounted the stairs up to the bedroom.

Door One: Couple making out.

Door Two: Empty

Door Three…

She gasped. Nothing, not even her stupid drunk mind could stop her from processing the scene. Will was making out with Jessamine, shirtless. Jessamine's shirt had been discarded on the floor, and she was in a red frilly bra. But nothing matched the expression on Will's face when he saw Tessa.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Apologize**

"Tessa, I'm sorry, it was a drunk mistake!" Will pleaded as he tried to keep pace with Tessa, who refused to acknowledge his existence. He had enough dignity not to run behind her, but was stumbling over his feet as he tried to keep a casual pace.

Tessa didn't reply.

"Tess, you saw how much I drunk! I couldn't see straight!"

Tessa sucked in her breath. Nobody had ever called her 'Tess.' Will, upon seeing some kind of reaction, continued: "Listen, I don't even like her!"

Then Tessa stopped and turned to face him. William smiled jubilantly. "I knew you'd come arou-"

_Crack. _Tessa's hand whipped up from her side as she slapped William Herondale in the face.

Then she stalked off.

_Crack. Bang. Slap. _Tessa's body developed a rhythm as she channeled all her anger into the punching bag in front of her. She was in the Institute's gym, and was furiously beating up anything punchable. She was on autopilot, imagining Will's face every time she made a move. Within minutes, she was soaked in sweat and her cheeks were red.

"Wow, you sure are kicking the crap out of that bag."

Tessa broke her rhythm, and turned around to find a girl with black hair and dark blue eyes. Her face seemed strangely familiar. The curve of her lip, her high cheekbones, they all looked like someone she'd seen before.

As Tessa pushed the stray strands of hair out of her face, she smiled slightly and said, "A girl needs somewhere to take out her anger…"

The girl laughed. It was a soft, musical laugh. "I think that's the only reason teenagers go to the gym. It's why I'm here, anyways."

"What happened?"

The girl sighed. "My bastard brother is trying to hook me up with some kid a year younger than me."

"Why?"

"He owes him."

Tessa laughed lightly. "This school has enough bastards already."

The girl nodded her head. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Cecily, by the way, and I could really use someone to spar with…"

"I'm Tessa. Nice to meet you too."

Tessa was smiling and laughing like nothing as she left the school at the end of the day with her new friend Cecily. She didn't have to pretend to be somebody else with her, and that was a huge relief. Every time Tessa mentioned something to do with books, or something else nerdy, Cecily always laughed and said _you'd get along great with my brother_.

As the girls left the school grounds, Cecily said, "Hey! Do you want to come over today? We can do homework together!"

Tessa smiled and said, "I'd love to."

After a quick phone call (Tessa's mother was delighted to see her daughter making '_even more _friends'), Tessa and Cecily were walking together in the general direction of St. James' park. After a few minutes, they reached a large three-story townhouse.

"This is us!" Cecily chirped brightly. She pushed open the gate and squealed with delight. "My strawberries are ripe!"

Tessa turned to look in Cecily's direction. Surely enough, she was leaning over a cluster of small bushes sporting red and ripe strawberries. Tessa looked around at Cecily's garden. It was a beautiful garden, but it was nothing compared to hers, although Cecily's house looked bigger with an extra floor, and a large porch.

A cat peeked out from behind the bush, and Cecily's squeals turned to frustrated moans. "Damn, you stupid cat! You've been doing your business in my bushes! Eurgh!"

Tessa could not suppress her curiosity. "Is it yours?"

"Hm, the cat? Nope. My brother has friends over." It was impossible to read Cecily's pokerfaced expression.

Tessa smiled. "I always wanted a pet, but my mother disagreed after I killed 3 goldfish and a hamster."

"You _killed_ them?"

"I only forgot to feed them for a few days!"

The girls were lying on Cecily's floor, trying to do their mathematics assignment, but each other's company was distracting them.

"Sorry, my carpet is a little dusty. It hasn't been cleaned for a couple of days…"

Tessa raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Well, my brother got into a fight with our housekeeper Agatha, and she stormed off and hasn't returned."

"So I gather that your brother is a complete idiot?"

Cecily grinned. "Took you a while to catch on…"

Explosions of laughter rung from further down the hall.

"Your brother's friends?"

"Yeah. How the hell are we meant to concentrate?"

"We can go round to my place…"

Cecily smiled an evil smile. "That'd be giving up, wouldn't it? I have an idea…"

"3, 2, 1…"

"_Baby you light up my world like…" _One Direction rang over the house's speaker system, on full volume.

"My brother _hates_ this song! He doesn't have anything against 1D though…" Cecily said protectively.

Tessa laughed. "You're evil, you know that?"

They sat down with their ears pressed against the wall, trying not to laugh at the boys' reactions. One person had started singing along.

"Hey, you didn't tell us we'd be listening to 1D!" laughed a voice.

"I'd like to hear Jem play along with his violin."

Another voice said, "He'd call every cat to our house!"

A familiar voice said, "Oops… did I mention I brought Church?"

"I didn't play the song! It was my dumb sister!"

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

And then it clicked. He didn't have to enter the room for Tessa to know. Her eyes widened in panic.

"Oh god, not him…"

The door banged open and a voice shouted, "Give me the remote, Cecy!"

And then a pair of cool blue eyes rested on Tessa.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Drunk On Hate**

_**Idea from 'Avenging Angel'**_

His lips parted.

Tessa managed to keep a bright tone. "So your brother is William Herondale!"

Cecily stared worriedly at Tessa. "You look like you have stomach cramps."

"Erm, I'm fine…"

Cecily looked at Tessa again and rounded on Will and demanded, "Do you two know each other?"

"_No."_

Both Will and Tessa's voice had increased in octave.

"Thanks for having me over, Cecily," said Tessa, gathering her books and putting them in her bag. "I really have to go now…"

And with that, she scurried out the door.

"Sweetie?" Elizabeth Grey's voice wafted up the stairs.

"I'm doing something, mom…"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that your dad and I are going out for dinner with a couple of old friends. Normally I'd have Nate take care of you, but he's out with his college friends, so you have the house to yourself."

Tessa brightened at the thought. "Bye, mom!"

"Be safe!"

She heard the door click.

Tessa unlocked her bedroom door, and marched down the stairs. She needed something to wash her mind clean of William Herondale, or something that prevented her mind from functioning at least for a short while. A memory of whispered conversations in Jessamine's yard gave her an idea. Tessa opened the fridge to make herself a glass of lemonade.

Her hand shook as she poured the whole vodka bottle into her lemonade. She took a sip, and then chugged it whole. She was already feeling fuzzy and light-headed as she reached for the phone.

"Mom?" she giggled.

"Honey, is everything okay? Why did you call me?"

"Can I go out?"

"With who?"

"No-one in par-tic-u-lar." Tessa enunciated every syllable.

You could feel Elizabeth Grey frown through the phone. "Well, alright, but don't come home tomorrow."

Tessa groaned. _Busted._

"And please throw away the vodka bottle."

Tessa staggered out of the house, not knowing where she was going, but letting her feet guide her. Her mind was blurring every thought together, but one word remained clear in her mind. _Herondale. _

"Heron-dale," she giggled. "Strange name, isn't it?"

Cecily shut the door of her brother's bedroom. He was lying in a forlorn heap on the floor. She looked next to him, and found a half-empty beer can among a pile of crushed ones.

"William," she chided. "You shouldn't be drinking."

"And you shouldn't be in here."

Cecily frowned. He was sounding surprisingly sharp for someone who had ingested; she counted, about 7 cans of beer.

"I want to know what's the deal between you and Tessa."

"Tessa? Who's Tessa?" His words were slurred this time, like he was making a conscious effort to be drunk.

"William, you know exactly who I'm talking about," Cecily snapped. "Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?"

"It's nothing."

"At first you were denying that you know Tessa, now 'it's nothing?'"

"Please don't mimic me, Cecy."

"I'm not leaving until I get an answer out of you."

Will groaned. "Fine, I'll tell you, but this cannot be told to anyone."

"I knew you'd see sense. You'd have to, you're related to me."

"So, basically, we were at a party-"

Cecily groaned. "You slept with her?"

Will had the decency to blush, a strange contrast with his coloring. "No, we kissed, but then she caught me kissing Jessamine…"

Cecily's tone was sharp. "I didn't know you could be so-"

"I was drunk, okay? Now please get lost, Jem is coming over."

Cecily sniffed. "Good to know you have one real friend."

"What the hell does that mean, Cecily?"

But Cecily was already stomping down the hall, and the slamming of her door made him flinch.

Tessa was staggering on a familiar path when she fell into the puddle. It seemed like all her senses returned at once with the shock of the cold water.

"Where am I?"

Then she looked up. She saw a familiar house. Then she realized…

"How the hell did I manage to get myself here?"

The door opened a crack. She saw the silhouette of William Herondale exit the house, and she knew what she had to do next.

She took the path up to the house, and was almost in front of him when he noticed her.

"Why are you here?"

"We need to talk."

He flushed angrily. "Well, that's only _all I've been trying to do all week_!"

Tessa laughed a cold laugh. "You really are clueless with women, aren't you? All you know is that you're hot, and all the girls come flocking towards you like moths attracted to light. But you have the emotional capacity of a pineapple. Wait, no, pineapples probably understand me more than you do."

"You think I'm hot?"

She sighed. "You also have what we call _selective hearing_."

"No, no, I heard the rest. I just don't know how to respond."

"You are not meant to respond with any smart comment. You have to apologize like you mean it."

"What if I like Jessamine better?"

Tessa hesitated, but only for a second. "Well, you'd have to be pretty shallow to like her better."

"How do you know I'm not shallow?"

"I know you're only human. You're not some chunk of ice without feelings. _Everybody feels, William._"

Suddenly he looked vulnerable in the moonlight. "What if I don't want to feel? What if I block up the feelings inside?"

Tessa looked a thousand years old as she said: "Then you're going to blow one day. And trust me, it's not going to be anything pleasant."

With those words, Tessa turned down the path and started walking home, not noticing the blue-eyed boy staring at her as if she was some sort of dangerous treasure.


End file.
